hey pink? what's for dinner?

[rutabaga bob]

So, as far as the transistor...can you use just any old Ge, leaky or not?  Read about the lower gain ones...didn't know if you tried any with less leakage.

[italianguy63]

Hey Jimi-- I may try this if I get the time!  On the back of the extra gain stage by the Volume pot you have a cap.  On the schematic you show .1uF but on the vero you have .1pF?

[pinkjimiphoton]

as done as it's gonna get



schematic/pcb thingie....

So, as far as the transistor...can you use just any old Ge, leaky or not?  Read about the lower gain ones...didn't know if you tried any with less leakage.

ANY old ge...leaky or not. gain doesn't matter, leakage doesn't matter, can be npn OR pnp and it will work. forward or reverse beta. one will sound better, but anything goes as long as it's ge.

Hey Jimi-- I may try this if I get the time!  On the back of the extra gain stage by the Volume pot you have a cap.  On the schematic you show .1uF but on the vero you have .1pF?

.1, 1pf means i forgot to set diylc to microfarads, sorry bro.

.1 is right.

the extra volume stage isn't really necessary, if ya breadboard it first, see if you feel it's important or not. it's a bit sweeter without it, but not as loud or as distorted... the last stage adds a bit of dirt that you may or may not like.

don't expect this thing to sound good with everything "on 10". i find the best gain setting somewhere around 8:30-10:00. above that, it becomes overkill. it's there if ya NEED overkill...  lol

the bloom n' boost switch is also total overkill. off it's a nice sweet overdrive-fuzz. with it on, it's a fuzz sustainer octave synthy thing. the more i mess with it...

[italianguy63]

the extra volume stage isn't really necessary, if ya breadboard it first, see if you feel it's important or not. it's a bit sweeter without it, but not as loud or as distorted... the last stage adds a bit of dirt that you may or may not like.

Maybe another switch.  So, 2 stomp switches and 2 toggles.  Might layout nice.

This project would be a long time out... I would probably draw it and order a PCB.  Lots of time involved in that!   Thanks for sharing!  MC

[pinkjimiphoton]

mark,
i'd make the bloom switch a footswitch... probably get more mileage that way.
but ya COULD put all three on..

i do that sometimes... i set them to different heights. bypass is highest, in the middle, and then gain boost on one side, or booster on the other.

or whatever.

[italianguy63]

No that is what I was thinking -- 2 stomps (bloom and  full bypass), and 2 toggles (clipping and extra gain on/off).

[Kipper4]

Well thanks Jimi.
That's the first time I've seen you a layout that's not vero.
Good work man

[pinkjimiphoton]

just have a play with it on the breadboard mark, make sure ya even like it before ya commit. 

thanks rich!!

no idea what i was doing, just tried to connect the dots 

[pinkjimiphoton]

i've been trying to figure out just how/why the hell this works, so i asked another guru, max robinson, for his take on it...
i think i understand why it works now, thanks to his explanation...

"

Jimi, I would be interested to know if shorting out the 2.2 uf capacitor
above the transistor in the drawing has any effect on the sound. It
probably will have some effect when being driven to clipping but I think
when at low levels for a clean sound I think there will not be any
difference. In clipping mode there is rectification at the EB junction
which will put some charge on the 2.2 uf and slightly bias the transistor.
At clean levels the transistor probably isn't being driven hard enough to go
into forward conduction in either junction. The only effect is the reverse
saturation current. This is unmeasurable in silicon transistors but can be
several microamps in small signal germaniums and several milliamps in power
germaniums. With the emitter and collector being driven by the output of
the op amp there is a germanium diode in series with the feedback
resistance. But the capacitor allows rectification to add charge to the cap
and bias the transistor as mentioned above. It's an interesting circuit.


Regards.

Max. K 4 O DS."

so there you have it. i told him yes, removing the cap drops the gain considerably, tho shorting across it will RAISE the gain to a point it's unusable (at least for me)

[pinkjimiphoton]

so like... did anyone ever end up breadboarding this thing?